Faith of Jesus Daily Devotional - Day 49

kjv@Revelation:14:12@ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Matthew:12:22-37 Jesus and Beelzebub

kjv@Matthew:12:22@ Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

kjv@Matthew:12:23@ And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

kjv@Matthew:12:24@ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

kjv@Matthew:12:25@ And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

kjv@Matthew:12:26@ And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

kjv@Matthew:12:27@ And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

kjv@Matthew:12:28@ But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

kjv@Matthew:12:29@ Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

kjv@Matthew:12:30@ He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

kjv@Matthew:12:31@ Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

kjv@Matthew:12:32@ And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

kjv@Matthew:12:33@ Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

kjv@Matthew:12:34@ O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

kjv@Matthew:12:35@ A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

kjv@Matthew:12:36@ But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

kjv@Matthew:12:37@ For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

What is God doing?

"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men".

What Jesus is doing is done by one of two possible sources. Either as the Pharisees have counciled themselves to begin publicly claiming in order to destroy Jesus that the power behind Jesus is Satan or as Jesus is claiming it is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Given the mounting evidence of the hypocrisy and poor legalistic interpretation of the Pharisee the logical leaning is towards Jesus claim; as from the evil treasure of an evil heart comes evil things.

"Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come".

If Jesus claim is true that what He does is by the power of the Holy Spirit, then what the Pharisees are saying is speaking directly against the Holy Spirit. Speaking against Jesus at this point of time is a matter of guess work. He has yet to die on the cross and be raised and ascended, prophecies are beginning to be fulfilled if pointed out, miracles are following Him attesting at least to something different and unseen to now, but the case for Jesus being the actual Christ (and not just another Elijah or John the Baptist) is slowly developing. The Holy Spirit is fully established and there is no guess work as to HIS verity, it would be inexcusable to speak despairingly of HIM.

"I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment".

Okay, before that judgment day let's let the Pharisee rehearse his case. He does not believe Jesus is the Messiah. He does not believe the prophecies have been fulfilled. He does not believe that it is the power of the Holy Spirit performing these miracles. He is not persuaded by Jesus' calm peaceful ways, nor His teachings, nor His command and authority preaching great things. Therefore he said what he said and meant every word of it. He saw Jesus as a threat to the Jewish religion and took the steps he deemed necessary to protect it. The prosecution then would counter that his words did not stop Jesus from completing His obedience to God, did not tempt Jesus into sinning, his words did not stop Jesus from dying for the sins of mankind on the cross, his words did not keep Jesus from raising from death after three days, did not stop Him from ascending, did not stop His followers from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, did not stop the Holy Spirit from spreading word of this fulfillment of scripture across the globe, did not stop the Gentiles from believing, did not stop the Pharisee quick decline into obscurity; therefore this Pharisee's words were nothing else but idle. How else for the jury to decide but guilty.

What is man doing?

"All the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David"?

Amazing. What did the Pharisee every do that could be called amazing? What did they ever do that made others to consider son of David? They have been judged rather by history as they await final judgment as the primary means of the Serpent striking the heel of Eve's seed. All this for what? What lasting thing did Satan ever give them?

"But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils"

Perhaps we should examine the claim. Is there anything that Jesus did that matches the known profile of the prince of devils? Did the prince of devils benefit by anything Jesus said or did in any respect? Doesn't the profile more closely match the known profile of the Holy Father? The Holy Spirit?

"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh".

John the Baptist once called the Pharisees vipers as well. These words should be ringing in their ears. John had said "who warned you to escape the wrath coming to you" and "bring rather fruit meat for repentance". Well here is their fruit: they sat by silent in vengance as John singlehandedly took up the righteous case against the adulterous king (would have been a good chance to show their repentance), a case that really should have been their responsibility to make. Then if that was not enough they have followed Jesus pestering Him with quick little jabs and then promptly backing out so not to stir a full intellectual argument where they would have to defend (expose) their beliefs. Now this is a continuation of that. Fruits meat for repentance? Certainly not.

What does this passage tell us about the about the commands and faith of Jesus that saints are to keep/guard?

"For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned".

Keeping the commandments and faith of Jesus also includes protecting/guarding as we've previously said. Many words are flung at Jesus; the hissing of other vipers. Like their father the Serpent not all these words are immediately alarming, but more subtle. Alarming words are more meant for others within their fold that might reconsider getting out. Subtle words are meant for others outside that might want to come on in to the broad. We need to see these words for what they are and not back down or compromise to them in either regard. So to we must watch our own words so that they do not get confused with our Lord's words because they will take our words and mangle them to their own liking, which they cannot do with our Lord's.

The best way to speak God's word and protect its' best meaning is to quote God's word directly.